The Inevitable Outcome of Attraction
by erinjoy29
Summary: If only Sasha hadn't pushed Payson away, we would have all been so much happier. Here is what could have happened...


"That was it! That's fantastic!" Sasha said while walking over to Payson. The smile on his face was contagious and she felt herself respond in kind as he lifted her into his arms and spun her around.

Sasha stood back and continued, "What you just did... th-th-the story you just told... it was inspired."

Payson was watching him in awe. She couldn't believe he thought so much of her; couldn't believe she had really come this far. She had to be honest, "It's you Sasha. You inspire me." She looked into his eyes and he was looking back. She didn't know what exactly, but there was something in the way he was looking back at her that made her throw caution to the wind. She took a step closer and pressed her lips to his.

Payson felt his hands reach for her hips and just knew he was going to push her away. _This was a stupid idea. I don't know what I was thinking._

She felt his hands on her, and just as she started to back off, to let him push her away and surely start berating her for being an idiot, he stopped. He appearred to be frozen; he wasn't responding, nor was he making any attempt to push her away. She didn't know whether to pull away and make a run for it before he could make her talk about it or whether she should just prolong the awkwardness in an attempt to avoid said conversation. He still wasn't doing anything.

And then he was pulling her closer. _Oh my God, this is insane, _she thought to herself. She pressed her lips to his again, and this time he kissed her back. It was tentative at first, he knew this was wrong just as much as she did. But they didn't care. It felt so right; it had been building up and they both knew it. They had both felt it. Finally, it seems, they had acted on it, at a time when there was no risk of being seen by other gymnasts and their parents because nobody but them would be seen at the gym training this late.

Payson was nervous, _I really hope I don't mess this up. I think I would just die of embarrassment if I did something wrong. The only guy I've ever kissed is Nicky Russo, and believe me, this is so much better. Sasha's an amazing kisser. I can't imagine anything better._

Payson's mind continued to analyse, despite her attempts to just enjoy the moment. His lips were firm against her own, and yet so soft, not exactly what you'd expect from a hard-ass gymnastics coach. He was confident in his caresses, she herself was trying to follow his lead, not experienced enough to even know what she wanted from this. She just knew she was attracted to him, that he understood her, that he was always there for her and that he believed in her when she knew nobody else did. She was also quite simply fascinated that he was actually kissing her back.

She could feel his hands gripping her hips tighter and she stepped forward again, and this time they were chest to chest. She could feel his heart beating alongside her own. It gave a whole knew meaning to getting your heart-rate up. She knew she'd be thinking about the comparison tomorrow when she was training for sure.

Sasha had no idea what had posessed him. He was kissing one of his gymnasts. One of his amazing, talented, passionate and beautiful gymnasts that he couldn't get out of his mind. She was a constant thought, and any other thoughts he had ended up leading back to her. 'I'm hungry' becomes 'I wonder if Payson would approve of this cereal for dinner? Definitely not.'; 'I feel like going for a jog' becomes 'I wonder if Payson's doing anything. She'd probably jump at the chance to go jogging. Maybe I should call her and see if she'd like to join me.'; to the even more ridiculous 'I need shampoo' becoming 'I wonder what shampoo Payson uses. Her hair is always so perfect'.

He'd figured out a while ago that he was developing feelings for the young woman. Never any of the other girls, just her. He didn't know whether it was because she was the only one that had honestly scared him to death when she had a supposedly life-changing injury, because she had matured after the accident and become more womanly, or whether it was simply because he had spent so much time with her since her fall and had got to know her. He'd gotten to know her better than anyone else in his time in Boulder, and he was pretty sure she knew him better than anyone else in his life. He respected her, he supported her, he went to ballet with her, he was clearly in way over his head.

Sasha was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Payson's hand glide down from his shoulder to rest on his chest, right above his heart. A strange feeling came over him, he felt like he was flying. He took control of his left hand and started to move it up from her hip, being sure to sweep up her side so that she would feel every little movement as he blazed a path edging up her back before reaching her hair. He felt around for a second to find the elastic in her hair, before taking hold of it and freeing her hair from it's constraints.

He pulled away for a second to stare at her in wonder. She was so beautiful and she probably still didn't know to what extent. Her hair was falling in soft waves down her back, with some strands falling forward over her shoulders. He took a few strands in his fingers and twirled them for a moment, just looking at her face. Cheeks slightly red, he wasn't sure whether it was from embarrassment or heat, probably a bit of both. Her eyes were alight with surprise, as if she couldn't believe what was happening even though she initiated it. And last, but certainly not least, swollen lips, looking so sinfully delicious he needed more.

With that thought, he claimed her lips once more, resuming with his task to consume her. He somehow managed to be more passionate than he had been. Payson felt like she was drowning in him. But if this was what it felt like, she didn't want to be saved.

Payson's questions about why he had pulled her hair out were soon answered. It appeared his aim had been to acquire something to grasp in his hands while he kissed her. _I wonder what the fascination is?_ She reached her left hand up from where it was resting on his shoulder and trailed it up to the back of his head. The moment she clenched her fingers in the hair just above the nape of his neck, Sasha let out a throaty groan like nothing she'd ever heard before. His immediate response was to kiss her harder, so she assumed she must have done something right. She responded just as fervently and before she knew it she could feel his hands reaching down to grip her bum in his strong hands.

Sasha couldn't believe the line he'd just crossed. It was one thing kissing her, but when she'd made contact with his hair it had sent a jolt of arousal through his body and he'd just reacted naturally. Nobody had ever affected him this way before. The moment he had her perfect bum in his hands, he couldn't help but try to eliminate any remaining space between them by stepping even closer. That was soon brought to a standstill as they lost their balance and fell down into the middle of the floor apparatus. To be honest, the moment he could feel every inch of her underneath him, he didn't give a damn who had lost their balance he was just glad they did. He didn't even care that he had been forced to relinquish his hold on her to brace himself on his arms so as not to crush her, because the sight of her surprised face was so perfect that he wanted to laugh and kiss her at the same time. He claimed her lips again, deciding that they could laugh about this later.

Payson couldn't believe that they had fallen. Luckily Sasha had managed to stop himself from completely crushing her, she was sure that would have been a mood-killer, and she wanted this to continue for as long as possible. She wasn't sure if he'd ever allow this to happen again, so she was going to enjoy it no matter what. It was this thought that spurred her into action again. As they had landed, their lower bodies had come into contact, and part of the surprise on her face was due to the fact that she couldn't believe how good it had felt. She wanted to feel it again, it was just a matter of figuring out how to get Sasha to go along with it. She had an idea.

Payson reached her hands down to the bottom of Sasha's shirt and began pulling it up so fast that he had no choice but to go along with it and help her to remove it. As soon as his chest was revealed to her, she immediately kissed him again and let her hands glide over the gloriousness that was Sasha Belov's torso. She pulled away for not even a second before trailing her lips to his neck and pressing soft little kisses down his throat.

Sasha was going insane. Payson Keeler should not know how to affect a man like this. If it weren't for the fact that she seemed to have no idea what she was doing to him, he'd swear she must have done this before. However, it was the innocence in her exploration of his body that assured him that he was the first man to ever touch her and be touched by her in return. He felt like the luckiest guy alive. The soft little kisses she was pressing to his neck were slowly driving him insane, each sending even more little thrills through his body and he knew that if she didn't stop soon, this would get way out of hand. Well, more out of hand, so to speak.

As if the kisses weren't killing him enough, Payson reached her hand up yet again to clench her fingers in his hair. He couldn't help it, he almost lost his balance, and while he managed to not send them crashing to the floor inches below, he couldn't stop his hips in time and they immediately thrust against her. He was worried he may have gone too far. Apparently not; the moan she let escape made it completely worth it. Her legs came up to wrap around him and pull him against her again, aided by her hips meeting his mid-way. He let out another groan and abruptly drew her lips back to his.

Payson couldn't believe it had worked. The pleasure spreading through her body seemed to increase with every thrust of Sasha's hips, and she just knew she had made the right decision. She'd never felt anything like this. Experiencing new things seemed to be the theme of the evening. She could feel the bulge in his pants pressed against her most intimate of places and was overwhelmed with a feeling she couldn't describe. She knew this was as far as they could go realistically, she may be a little out of her mind with lust, but she knew that any actual sex would have to occur after the Olympics, if Sasha even wanted to continue this after tonight. She put that thought to the back of her mind for now and focussed on the sensations coursing through her body. She couldn't imagine anything feeling better than this did. Every kiss and every thrust seemed to cause the sensation building up inside of her to increase incredibly fast. Before she knew it, everything seemed to explode into a billion little threads of ecstasy coursing through her body. She moaned louder than ever, and seconds later she felt Sasha stiffen, still pressed right up against her. He let out a moan, similar to hers, and yet masculine in a way that was pure Sasha.

Sasha rolled onto his back beside her. After his arm had guided her to rest on his chest, Payson allowed her arm to come up and let her hand rest flat against the muscles she had been dying to see up close. His hand came to rest on her hip, holding her to him, not yet willing to let her go. They stayed where they were for what felt like hours, but was in reality only minutes. As their breathing slowed, inadvertently falling into sync with each other, Payson was trying to figure out what to say, when she heard Sasha speak. "I think we're going to have to re-tape your routine."

It was definitely not what she was expecting, but nevertheless true. "Yeah, be sure to destroy that tape or something."

"'Or something' indeed." He responded quietly, not sure whether she understood the words he muttered.

"Sasha?" Payson asked quietly after another few minutes of silence. It seems neither of them could find the will to move and end this night just yet.

"Yeah, Payson?" He answered hesitantly. He wished he knew what she was thinking.

"This changes things, doesn't it? I mean, we're not going to ignore this, are we? Because I don't think I could stand it if we went back to being just gymnast and coach." She said it quite fast, and it took him a moment to comprehend. She wanted to continue this? Even though it could ruin her career?

"Payson, it would be a bad idea for this to go any further than it has tonight." He stopped for a moment to gather his courage. But as he felt her tense up, clearly about to run, he knew he had to speak fast. "However, I can't honestly say I would be able to survive without you now that I've gotten a taste, so to speak. But if we continue this, we're going to have to be very careful, you must know that. Nobody can know. Nobody can suspect. It would end both our careers, not to mention the number of rules we're breaking."

"I understand. So we tell nobody. Seems simple enough. I'd do anything as long as this doesn't have to end. You mean everything to me, Sasha Belov." The last comment was made as she lifter her head from his chest and gazed lovingly into his eyes.

He was overwhelmed with happiness as she said those words. The look in her eyes caused him to smile. "You mean everything to me too, Payson Keeler." With that, he kissed her one last time before they left the gym for the evening. The lights going out and the sound of the doors echoing shut behind them.

And yes, Sasha _did_ remember to grab the camera on the way out. It would be silly to leave it out where anyone could find it.

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AN: Please feel free to leave a review, I'd love to know what people think :D Hope you enjoyed reading just as much as I enjoyed writing.


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